Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Junior

The Jim Dunlop Cry Baby Junior (model CBJ95) is a wah pedal from Dunlop, released on November 16, 2020¹. It exists to solve a layout problem: a full-size Cry Baby is long and awkward on a modern pedalboard, while the Cry Baby Mini is compact but small under the foot. The Junior sits between the two at eight inches long¹.

What makes it different from either is that it was designed in collaboration with Pedaltrain, the pedalboard maker, so its 8-inch housing length lines up with the routing spaces on Pedaltrain's Metro, Classic, Novo and Terra Series boards². It also moves the input and output jacks from the sides to the front of the pedal, which keeps cables out of the way of neighboring pedals¹.

A medium-size Cry Baby wah

The Junior is a standard Cry Baby wah in a shortened chassis. Dunlop describes it as purpose-built for pedalboards, with the same treadle-and-rocker operation as any Cry Baby: you rock the pedal with your foot and the wah filter sweeps with it⁷⁸.

The size story is the point of the pedal. MusicRadar reported at launch that Dunlop "has spotted another gap in the wah pedal market" and released a middle-size Junior model¹. Guitar World's news piece put it plainly: "the Cry Baby Junior sits between the Cry Baby Mini and the full-sized Cry Baby"³.

The voice switch and jacks

The Junior's main control beyond the treadle is a three-position voice switch on the side of the pedal. Dunlop says it "allows you to choose one of our three" Cry Baby Wah voices covering the full frequency spectrum². The manual gives the exact sweep ranges⁴:

Guitar World's reviewer, Trevor Curwen, described the three settings in playing terms: "The H setting offers the sound of a modern Cry Baby such as the GCB95. It has a wide frequency range with more top-end at toe-down," while "the M setting is more in keeping with a vintage wah sound, focusing on the midrange with a less of that aggressive treble bite," and "the L setting delivers a darker experience with coverage slightly lower down the frequency range, with an expressive vocal quality"⁵.

The jacks are a quiet but practical feature. The CBJ95 uses front-mounted rather than side input and output jacks¹, so patch cables run along the front edge instead of sticking out where they can crowd the pedals on either side.

Pedalboard fit and size

The 8-inch housing length is the number to know. Dunlop says it "lines up perfectly with the routing spaces on boards such as those from Pedaltrain," including the Classic, Novo and Terra Series, "making for a nice, clean arrangement of cords"². In other words, the pedal's footprint matches the cutouts and rail spacing on those boards, so power and patch cables route underneath without bunching.

A white Special Edition followed in April 2022, using the same downsized 8-inch chassis and the same high, mid and low voice switch, at $149⁹. As with the original, it was co-designed with Pedaltrain⁹.

Where it sits between the Cry Baby Mini and the full-size Cry Baby

The Junior is the middle option in Dunlop's Cry Baby size range:

• Full-size Cry Baby (GCB95): the standard housing, $99.99 on Dunlop's product page⁶¹⁰
• Cry Baby Junior (CBJ95): 8-inch housing, three voices, front jacks²⁴
• Cry Baby Mini (CBM95): half the size of a standard Cry Baby pedal, with three internally adjustable voicings (Low, Vintage, GCB95) set by a switch under the bottom plate rather than on the side¹¹

The Mini, announced at NAMM 2015, was described by MusicRadar as "surprisingly easy to use still, given the footprint"¹². The Junior gives players who found the Mini too small a full-width treadle in a shorter box. MusicRadar's review team noted the trade-off runs the other way too: "The Mini 535Q is smaller still if space is an issue"⁸.

What reviewers said

MusicRadar's review team called it "All the functionality of a well-sorted Cry Baby in a very practical footprint for pedalboards... We're talking serious u"⁸. Guitar World's Trevor Curwen reached the same verdict: "All the functionality of a well-sorted Cry Baby in a very practical footprint for pedalboards"⁵.

Videos

Click to load

Click to load

Click to load

Questions